Dance Class Descriptions
Ballet Lessons
Ballet dance began in the late fifteenth century as a form of entertainment for the French court. Its positions and movements were developed from what was aesthetically pleasing to that particular culture and time. Some of the most famous ballets include The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. Classes incorporate barre exercises, center work and allegro with an emphasis on proper alignment and turn-out (the outward rotation of the legs in the hip sockets.) Pointe work is dancing in specially constructed shoes which allow the dancer to rise up and dance on the tips of the toes.
Creative Movement
Creative Movement uses songs and games to explore basic locomotor skills (walk, run, leap, jump, hop, skip, march, tip-toe, gallop, slide), body awareness, spatial orientation, coordination, balance and musicality.
Jazz Lessons
Jazz is a uniquely American form of music and dance that arose from both African and European traditions beginning in the late 1800s. Jazz dance skillfully uses rhythm and melody to reflect popular American culture. Jazz is constantly evolving to emulate the changes in the style, pulse and feel of American society. While some scholars lament that the jazz era ended with the advent of the new rock and roll styles of the 1950s, others view jazz dance as continually evolving with each new wave of popular music and dance.
Hip Hop lessons
Hip Hop is a catch-all phrase which has been used to characterize some of the newest forms of popular dance including street jazz (street moves with a jazz foundation), breaking (top rocking, freezes, stalls and flips), popping (liquid moves combined with sharp robotic muscle tics), krumping (aggressive, spiritual, flailing movements), locking (started by Don Campbell characterized by jerky movements and chicken wing arms) and house (a mix of fast paced hip hop, tap, jazz and latin) dancing.
Modern Dance Lessons
Modern Dance is an intrinsic, kinesthetic form of expressive movement. It originally developed in the late 1800s as a rejection of the formality and perceived sterility of traditional ballet. In contrast to ballet, it utilizes movements which are natural to the body. It is also known as “Contemporary” dance, a term primarily used in Europe. Recently, the term “Contemporary” has been used in the U. S. to refer to a fusion of traditional modern, post-modern, lyrical and jazz genres. Famous modern dancers include Isadora Duncan, Doris Humphrey and Martha Graham.
Pilates
Pilatecize-mat based exercise for teens and adults based upon the principles of Joseph Pilates. This class uses gravity as resistance to build strength and flexibility from a core of the abdominal muscles.
Jazz/Hip Hop
Combination jazz/hip hop classes are a mixture of traditional jazz warm-ups, isolations and combinations combined with the funky driving rhythm steps of today’s hip hop culture.
Tap Lessons
Tap is a rhythmic form of jazz dance characterized by sharp, fast footwork performed with metal taps on the bottom of the shoes in order to beat out a rhythm while dancing.
Dance Class Requirements
See the lesson schedule for class times.
Creative Movement: (ages 3-4) No prior dance experience. A 45 minute introducing basic locomotor skills (walk, run, leap, jump, hop, skip, march, tip-toe, gallop, slide), gross & fine motor coordination
(balance; eye/hand coordination), qualities of movement (smoothly/sharply), levels of movement (Can you jump high? Can you crawl low?), tempo (slow/fast), listening skills (Can you clap in time to the music?) and etiquette (inside voices).
Child Ballet I (ages 5-7) No prior dance experience. A 45 min. class introducing dance terminology and the first basic ballet positions and movements.
Child Ballet II (ages 5-7) Some prior dance experience. Mastery of Child Ballet I or the equivalent. A 45 minute class expanding on the basic ballet positions and movements.
Ballet I (ages 8+) No prior formal ballet experience or a lapse in time since dancing. A 1 hour class at an elementary level of technique.
Ballet II (ages 13+) Mastery of Youth Ballet I or the equivalent. A 1 hour at an advanced elementary level of technique.
Ballet III (ages 13+) A 1 hour class at an intermediate level of technique. Pointe I
offered immediately after.
Ballet IV (ages 13+) Mastery of Ballet III or the equivalent. A 1 hour class at an intermediate/advanced level of technique.
Pointe II offered immediately after.
Pointe I (ages 12+) Approval of the Director is necessary. Students must be at
least 12 years of age, have studied ballet for a minimum of two years taking at
least two classes each week AND have
the alignment, strength and technique necessary to dance en pointe. Must be
simultaneously enrolled in two ballet classes each week, including the class immediately before. A 30 minute
class.
Pointe II (ages 12+) Approval of the Director is necessary. Mastery of Pointe I
or the equivalent. Must be simultaneously enrolled in the ballet class
before. A 30 minute class.